VIDEO: 'Combined Efforts' In Shirley Teen Rescue Led To 'Positive Ending' On Easter, Fire Officials Say

BROOKHAVEN, NY — As dramatic video footage of the massive rescue efforts to help a teenager trapped in mud in Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge was released Monday, Suffolk fire officials credited the importance of the inter-agency cooperation that was used.

The Brookhaven Fire Department was responding to a shed fire in Shirley, at around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, when an emergency call came in about a 15-year-old trapped in a marsh within the refuge.

The firefighters had to quickly divert their resources to the refuge, the department said in a news release.

Suffolk County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services, which coordinates incidents, "provided critical support by obtaining cellphone-based location coordinates, allowing first responders to significantly narrow the search area," department officials said.

And, although the department’s drone team arrived quickly, operations were temporarily held at the request of Suffolk police, due to an incoming aviation unit responding to assist in the search, according to officials.

Firefighters, working alongside the state's Department of Environmental Conservation officers, conducted a coordinated search through dense wooded and marsh terrain, and after around 40 minutes, the teen was found, officials said.

Crews then used rope rescue techniques to free the teen from the mud, and took him to awaiting Emergency Medical Services personnel at the roadway, according to officials.

"This incident highlights the importance of inter-agency coordination," the department stated.

In addition to FRES and Suffolk police, the department's officials credited the "successful rescue" to "a combined effort" involving mutual aid departments, including firefighters from the neighboring departments of Bellport, Mastic, Mastic Beach, Hagerman, as well as EMS agencies such as the Shirley and Mastic ambulance companies.

Police units included patrol officers, K-9 search and rescue dogs, a boat from the Marine Bureau, and a helicopter.

"The use of enhanced 911 location technology was instrumental in expediting the search, particularly as daylight faded and temperatures dropped," they said. "All efforts lead to a positive ending, to our Easter Holiday."

The temperature was in the high 40s, but can be lower inside the wooded area as it gets dark, and moisture in the air can make it feel colder.

In police bodycam video, an officer can be heard calling the name of the teen, in the background of a shot of the sun setting across the densely wooded forest of the refuge.

In another segment, the teen can be heard crying, "Help," as officers frantically searched for him, scanning the trees with flashlights in the fading light while a helicopter flies overhead.

A second aerial video from the police department's helicopter shows the teen being pulled out of the mud.

You can hear the relief in the voice of one of his rescuers as she says, "He's out, subject is out."

Once the officers reach him, he tells them, "I don't remember a single thing other than being on the road."

Another rescuer tells him, "Alright then, you did a pretty good job."

The boy, who is 15 and from Shirley, was escorted out of the woods and then taken by ambulance to Stony Brook University Hospital for evaluation, Suffolk police said.

In a Facebook post, Mastic Beach Fire Department officials said its members are proud to have taken part in the rescue, calling it "an outstanding example of inter-agency cooperation" with fire, EMS, the police, and other agencies working toward a common goal.

"Critical resources — including aviation assets, rescue swimmers, a hovercraft, off-road vehicles, and many others — were successfully deployed to affect this rescue," they said.